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As UFC President Dana White recently reported, the promotion has announced today that the rematch between middleweight champ Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen will be hosted by the Joao Havelange Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 23rd.

The UFC expects the event to break the current attendance record of 55,000 fans for a MMA card, which took place at Toronto’s Rogers Centre last April.

The Joao Havelange Stadium has a capacity listed of 46, 931; however, that figure is likely reflective of the seating configuration that is utilized for a soccer match. No details regarding what seating plan the UFC intends to use were included.

Silva (31-4) has defended his belt two more times, since he defeated Sonnen in August, 2010, by stopping Vitor Belfort and most recently Yushin Okami.

Sonnen (27-11) has also earned two additional victories since his memorable tilt with Silva, as the accomplished wrestler submitted Brian Stann last October, before earning a unanimous decision win over Michael Bisping in January.

The UFC 117 meeting between Sonnen and Silva became an instant classic, as after Sonnen dominated Silva for four rounds, the highly regarded champion managed to catch the outspoken fighter with a late triangle-choke.

The promotion has also confirmed another rematch for the UFC 147 card, as current “Ultimate Fighter” Brazil coaches Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva will square off at the event.

The two fought for the first time at UFC 17.5 in 1998, which saw Belfort (21-9) put away Silva (34-11) with a flurry of punches in just 44 seconds.

Photo via ExtremeMMANews.com

posted by FCF Staff @ 12:56 pm

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